You have to see this movie. It is amazing. I saw a sneak preview last night and was prepared to be totally unimpressed. I don't usually like Michael Moore's movies because I find them long and meandering. It frustrates me when he weakens his legitimate criticisms by going on some crazy tangent. Also, I don't really care for the way his movies are usually revolve around him and his stunts. I can see that he serves a purpose with his badgering, but I don't want to watch it. This has nothing to do with politics — I just think he's obnoxious. I say all this because if you were thinking about not seeing Sicko because you don't like Michael Moore — see it anyway. He hit the nail on the head with this one. This movie is not about him, it's about regular people. Chances are you can relate: you probably haven't been involved in a shooting or terrorist attack, but I bet you've been screwed by the insurance industry. Regardless of politics, there is no denying the fundamental truth that our health care system is terrible and something needs to change.

As a movie, this one is great: it didn't feel too long to me; in fact, I could have watched more of these stories. It's genuinely funny and charming, and Moore's trademark stunts are kept to a minimum (one, as far as I could tell). It's also truly heartbreaking — there were lots of sniffles and tears in the theater last night. The story that affected me the most was the woman whose husband died from cancer after her insurance company wouldn't approve a bone marrow transplant on the grounds that it was "experimental." It just broke my heart. There are lots of other heartbreaking moments in the film, as well as a ton of what the hell? moments — such as the scene where the man explains how he had to choose which fingertip to reattach after an accident, or the scene where the 9/11 rescue worker finds out her $120 breathing treatment is available in Cuba for 5 cents. Actually, that was kind of heartbreaking as well. At a couple of points during the movie, the theater broke out in applause. By far the biggest round occurred when a former member of British Parliament said: "If you can find money to kill people, you can find money to help people."

Some of the criticisms I've read about this movie is that Moore paints too glowing a picture of the health care systems in Canada, Great Britain and France. This is probably true — surely there are flaws in these systems. I've read horror stories about people having to wait forever for medical care in both Canada and Great Britain. However, I have never read a horror story in which someone in one of these countries had to wait forever and then got charged thousands of dollars. That happens all the time here. Some people don't like these health care systems because they don't like paying high taxes. Well, I relate. I hate paying taxes. Particularly since I pay federal income tax, state income tax, and two different types of city income tax and on top of that, I pay for my health insurance out of pocket (since my employer finds it easier to classify me as an independent contractor instead of an employee, hence my two types of city tax) while I accrue interest on my massive school loans. I bought the insurance, using my school loan, because I could not afford to buy my medication otherwise. I pay well over half my salary in taxes and insurance and then I pay copays for doctor visits and medication (plus I have a huge book stating exactly which tests and procedures I am not entitled to get). So, yeah. People in other countries have to pay a lot in taxes for healthcare, and people in the U.S. have to pay a lot in other ways. Many of us are just one accident or serious illness away from bankruptcy.

I have been comparatively lucky when it comes to insurance, but I am not without complaints. After college, I spent about a year working for a health insurance sub-contractor. I was a temp worker, and therefore did not have health insurance. Neither did a lot of people I worked with. And we were the people who decided whether or not treatments were approved (well, not me — I just typed up the data). We weren't doctors. We never saw the people who needed treatment. We didn't even work directly for an insurance company. During this time, since I didn't have health insurance, I was prepared to go without, like all of my recent college grad friends (two of whom scored really great jobs, with benefits, and were let go just before the benefits were about to kick in). My parents thought this was a bad idea and generously offered to pay for a COBRA to extend my health coverage. My COBRA application was denied because it was discovered that I had seen a counselor when I was in college. Now, I went to college in New York, from 1999-2003. A lot of people needed counseling at this time. I can't tell you how embarrassed I felt when I received the denial letter stating my "pre-existing mental illness" prevented me from receiving coverage. I didn't know I was "mentally ill." I thought I was a confused college student finding my identity in a particularly turbulent time and place. I told the insurance company as much and was eventually approved.

I was also without dental insurance for a very long time. I first discovered I was a teeth grinder when I went away to college (probably part of my severe "mental illness"). I found out, very soon after, that it would cost about $400 dollars for a custom mouth guard. Since I didn't have $400, I decided I would live with the consequences of grinding. Now, I have dental insurance, but I need about $6,000 worth of dental work which is not covered. Yes, I was stupid, but $400 is a lot of money to a 18-year-old on work study who knows nothing about teeth. This is a financial burden, but luckily it is not a medical crisis. I'm sure there are people all over America going without treatment for severe medical problems that are just going to get worse and worse (and more expensive).

One of the things about Sicko that surprised me (but shouldn't have) was hearing the British doctor describe the measures taken for preventative care. For example, British doctors are actually encouraged to have their patients undergo mental health screenings. Imagine that.

My favorite reviews of Sicko so far are here and here.

Since Low Impact Week, we've been doing pretty well when it comes to eating locally and saving energy. I have also — unintentionally — decreased my consumerism significantly. Well, it's not exactly unintentional, but it was undesired, at least at first. You see, I am about to incur serious expenses in fixing my teeth. I don't want to do it (for both financial and aesthetic reasons) but it is becoming more and more clear that I shouldn't put it off any further. In the mean time, I am going to be moving in a few months and there is nothing I would love to do more than buy new stuff for my new apartment. I have improved a little bit here, because I want to replace some of my old crappy household items with things that are easier on the earth. I no longer want to buy a million cheap plastic things that were made in China, but I still want to buy things. And I want to buy things I can't afford. I have to be honest: I enjoy consuming. I am trying to think a lot harder about the whats/wheres/whens/hows and whys of my consumption. And that is a start.

The good part is that I'm kind of a minimalist and therefore constantly giving away (or trying to give away) stuff. So, sometimes when I start fantasizing about sleeping on organic sheets, I immediately think of something I can give away that will make my house less cluttered and might make someone else happy — and it seems to trigger the same pleasant feelings. I have also done some organizing of other people's stuff which satisfies this same desire in a weird way. This is partly because I am generally feeling quite antsy as I am in limbo for the next two months, waiting for the new apartment and new job to start. It's a fresh start in many ways, and it is taking place right at the same time as I am ready to take more steps in leading a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle. It's tempting to just go crazy buying composting, energy-saving, low-flowing, organic, natural thingamahoovers . . . but I can't. Not right now.

So I am plugging along (or rather, unplugging along) quite well through Low Impact Week. I have not watched any more TV and everything else is going smoothly as well. I have made some transgressions, mostly forgetting reusable bags and yesterday I left a light on for hours — something I never do.

Also, yesterday I came across this amazing site which I found through Lighter Footstep, which I found through No Impact Man. This site is incredible! Not only do the recipes look mouthwatering, but grocery lists are included. How awesome! Thank you, Veggie Meal Plans!

Yesterday I did nothing out of the ordinary in terms of low impact-ness: just walked, worked, took the stairs, ate leftovers for lunch and joined my friends for our weekly Monday night dinner. I am getting used to the quietness of the unplugged TV and to eating dinner at the dinner table instead of hunched over the coffee table, watching Seinfeld reruns for the nineteen millionth time. I told Albert he could plug the TV back in to watch The Daily Show if he wanted, but we were doing other things at eleven so we didn't bother. I didn't feel like anything was missing, so I guess I'm not a TV addict after all. See, I thought so: I can quit anytime I want!

Once again, I woke up late. I had two slices of toasted local bread and a huge cup of non-local, but fairly traded coffee. I read the newspaper much more slowly than usual, probably because I didn't have the television on in the background. I walked to a nearby restaurant to meet a friend for lunch (and I forgot my dorky pedometer - damn!). I was trying to avoid restaurants this week, but my friend is moving to the West Coast on Tuesday and we wanted to celebrate. When I returned, Albert and I borrowed a Prius from Philly Car Share to run some errands. Since we were out, we stopped at Trader Joe's for to stock up on some goods. Although the stuff we got was not quite low impact, we thought it would be better than taking the car out again at a later date. One of the items we bought was Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. We have gone from conventional liquid soap to J.A.S.O.N. liquid in a large plastic bottle to Whole Foods bar soap wrapped in plastic and now we have reached fairly traded organic soap wrapped in recycled paper. Will we ever make our own soap? I kind of doubt it, but who knows.

When we returned, we made a truly fantastic meal: Caesar salad made with locally grown romaine lettuce, cheesy garlic bread made with Claudio's local mozzarella and Sarcone's local bread, and pasta in a sauce made from local tomatoes and mushrooms (and onions and peppers of unknown origin).

I decided to plug the TV back in to watch the Democratic presidential debates and I didn't feel guilty about it because it seems like a good way to watch TV. I read about the debates in the morning paper and decided it would be worth my while. (It wasn't — no one said anything interesting.) When the debates were over, I unplugged the TV again. I am going to try to keep up this TV routine all summer. Not because I think there is anything wrong with TV, but because I am uncomfortable living in a quiet space, and I'd like to give that a try.

Yesterday I slept late-ish. Albert had to work in the morning and stopped by the farmer's market. He returned with bread from a different local bread person, and a bag of awesome sugar cookies. He then made us egg sandwiches with the new bread and the local eggs. We normally buy cage-free eggs for $2, and these eggs cost $3.25. People swear there is a huge taste difference between fresh, local eggs and eggs raised a million miles away, but I really can't tell. I can, however, tell a huge difference with fresh bread versus store-bought bread (which just so happen to cost about the same amount).

I took the train to my friends' baby's birthday party and on the way back, stopped at Sue's Produce. I got local mozzarella and local mushrooms. I also grabbed a few peppers which were not specifically marked as imported, but I am guessing were not local since I have not seen any peppers at any local farmers' markets. (No, I don't know what's in season when. I don't know how anyone who doesn't garden keeps it all straight since our grocery stores provide the illusion that everything is fresh and available, all the time.)

We ended up walking to our friend's house (about 5,000 steps — pedometers are dorky but addictive!) where we consumed a delicious and mostly local meal: veggie burgers on Metropolitan Bakery bread; farmers' market tomatoes in a delicious tomato salad with home-grown basil; local goat cheese from Sue's produce; and farmers' market strawberries and rhubarb in a strawberry-rhubarb crumble. We took the El back home, did some more reading and fell asleep.

Thursday night, we unplugged all the appliances and the TV. We didn't watch any TV before the unplugging, but that was mostly because Keith Olbermann had a substitute and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert were both in reruns.

Friday morning, I didn't use my diffuser to dry my hair. The humidity is so out of control that my hair is going to look like I just got electrocuted no matter what — especially now that I ran out of my expensive Aveda hair products. (I snipped the tubes to make sure I got every last drop — frugal and less wasteful!) I also didn't turn on The Weather Channel or watch the first fifteen minutes of The Golden Girls before my walk to work. I wanted to get an iced coffee but remembered the plastic packaging and made myself a free coffee in a mug at work.

I took the elevator up to the 12th floor, which I do every morning since I am always running late. When I go to lunch, I walk down the stairs and back up them and I walk down on my way home as well. How much energy is saved by three fewer elevator trips, I don't know. But I do know I feel better when I take the stairs, especially since I used to only be able to make it up a few flights before huffing and puffing. At lunch, I took an empty cartridge from our laser printer back to Staples to be recycled. I had to pick up some binders there and I realized I forgot to take a canvas bag with me. So now I have two plastic bags to be reused. Damn. I forgot to make my lunch last night so I had to buy. I decided to go with a half sandwich and a soup from a local bakery, largely because I know they only use paper for wrapping. I ordered a chilled soup and totally forgot it would be served in a plastic container. Damn again! I rinsed it out to take home. I am also taking my paper wrappings home to recycle because the building I work in doesn't recycle at all. They don't even make any pretense of recycling. No bins, no recycling pick up. Welcome to Philadelphia.

For dinner, Albert made us some delicious omelettes from eggs from a local farm and Amish pepper jack cheese. We had bread from the farmers' market bread guy. We made a salad out of local romaine lettuce and a super ripe local tomato, but I accidentally spilled dressing on it and it was kind of a disaster. We had after dinner plans and decided to walk the 30 or so blocks in the light rain. Our plans ended up not going through, so we turned around and walked right back. It was a nice walk, but we were both so tired when we arrived home we just did a little reading and went to sleep. Because I am a dork, I wore a pedometer all day and I went 25,000 steps. I don't know how many miles that is, but it seems like a lot.